14 pages. From the court's syllabus: "The panel held that plaintiff, [a healthcare provider who sued as an] assignee of its patients, sufficiently alleged that defendant waived or was equitably estopped from raising an anti-assignment provision in ERISA plan documents as a reason for denying the benefits claim for the first time in litigation. Specifically, defendant confirmed that ERISA plan benefits were available during pre-surgery conversations, plaintiff submitted the claim form to defendant indicating that it sought to recover benefits via a patient assignment, and defendant either denied in full or underpaid the claims during the administrative claim process without asserting the anti-assignment provision as a ground for denying a full reimbursement." [Beverly Oaks Physicians Surgical Center, LLC v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, No. 19-55820 (9th Cir. Dec. 17, 2020)]  MORE >>